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Bankesters suffer first casualty of IBMA

The Bankesters came to World of Bluegrass 2016 to spread the word about their upcoming Nightbird album on Compass Records, and do some networking within the industry. Everything was going swimmingly until this morning, when Phil headed out to the hotel parking lot to hop in his SUV and drive the short distance to the Convention Center…

…and found the vehicle missing from the spot where he had parked.

That’s right. Their trusty band wagon had been stolen from the hotel’s guest parking lot. It’s hard enough for anyone to deal with a stolen vehicle at any time, but for a performing act, away from home, at their industry’s major annual convention, well that is just too much to bear.

Phil has spent much of the day talking to Raleigh police, his insurance company, and a rental agency who could get them another suitable vehicle in short order for the ride back to Indiana. Not what he had planned for bluegrass music’s biggest day of the year!

The hotel’s security camera’s captured the truck leaving the parking lot at 3:42 a.m. this morning, but the driver’s face was not clearly visible. It’s a silver 2012 GMC Yukon XL, with license plates that read BGRASS6, though those will surely be removed in short order.

Fortunately, the only things of particular value in the truck at the time was Bankester matriarch Dorene’s favorite crock pot, and a copy of the audio master for Nightbird.

Let’s hope they can find something they can use on the road in time for their visit to the taping of Song Of The Mountains next weekend. Good luck Bankesters!

About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.